IT WAS the first time Madeleine Pulver had come face to face with her tormentor since the quiet August afternoon when he strapped a metal box to her neck with a bike lock and said ''count to 200 … if you move I can see you''.

Having walked into Sydney's Downing Centre District Court with her family, the teenager found herself just metres from banker-turned extortionist Paul Douglas Peters.

As Peters was sentenced over the bizarre hoax collar bomb attack that made headlines around the world, he cast a couple of glances in the direction of his victim. Only those closest to the two will know whether their eyes met across the courtroom as Peters, 52, was sentenced to at least 10 years' jail.

Left: Madeleine Pulver arrives at court. Right: Paul Douglas Peters.

''I can now look to a future without Paul Peters' name being linked to mine,'' she said after facing him for the last time.

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''For me it was never about the sentencing, but to know that he will not reoffend and it was good to hear the judge acknowledge the trauma he has put my family and me through.''

Having cheerfully declared on the way into court that she was ''happy it's nearly all over'', Ms Pulver seemed shaken by his presence in the courtroom.

She looked at the floor as Judge Peter Zahra recalled how Peters, a former Scots College student and failed international financier, had pulled on a rainbow balaclava, grabbed a black baseball bat and walked into her family's home in Mosman.

''The victim was vulnerable,'' Judge Zahra said. ''She was on her own studying for her trial Higher School Certificate examinations. She was entitled to the sanctuary of her home.''

He said the teenager had experienced ''unimaginable'' terror as Peters put a black metal box around her neck along with a note designed to strike fear.

''Powerful new technology plastic explosives are located inside the small black combination case delivered to you,'' the note read. ''You will be provided with detailed Remittance Instructions to transfer a Defined Sum once you acknowledge and confirm receipt of this message.''

Peters remained expressionless as the details of his crime were read out. His face remained set in stone as Judge Zahra rejected his claim the hoax collar bombing was the result of a bizarre delusion brought on by a combination of bipolar disorder, heavy drinking and depression. This was the crucial finding in determining his fate.

During the course of three sentencing hearings, Peters' lawyers had argued he had committed the crime under the delusion he was the central character in a science fiction novel he was writing.

The Pulvers seemed in a momentary state of shock when the 13-year maximum sentence was handed down.

Madeleine Pulver then fronted the Sydney media. ''I realise it's going to take quite some time to come to terms with what happened but today was important because now the legal process is over,'' she said.